Exchange Messaging Outlook Volume 9, Number 10

Today's highlights:

• Outlook MVPs Baker's Dozen List of Features Outlook Needs
• From the Mailbag: Outlook 2000 won't close
• From the Mailbag: My Contacts are Missing!
• Ratings Raffle

Regular features:

• New utilities
• Updated utilities
• Other Resources

OUTLOOK MVPS BAKER'S DOZEN LIST OF FEATURES OUTLOOK NEEDS

Last week, eWeek published a list of 12 things David Coursey thinks Outlook is missing in  A Dozen Things Outlook Doesn't Do-but Should. This week I'll share the features the Outlook MVPs think are most needed.

I'm opposed to adding features that third party developers have on the market, and most of David's suggestions are already addressed by third party developers or have simple workarounds available. I'd rather see Microsoft spend the time and money on improving existing features or adding completely new ones, not driving third party developers out of business.

The wishes on this list are in no particular order. Some are good candidates for third party developers; others need to be built into Outlook.

1. Flag or highlight folders. I have a lot of folders in my mailbox and in Public Folders. I would love to be able to change the folder colors or flag them in some way to make some of them easier to spot. The Favorite folders list helps a little, but once you get 10 or so folders on the list, it's less useful.
2. Customize the Navigation pane. I want to create my own navigation pane modules, so I can have my Newsgator folders in their own navigation pane. I want another navigation module for my NNTP for Outlook folders. Maybe a module for my IMAP store too.
3. Public folder navigation module. The folder list is nice, but I have a lot of folders and browsing for them is slow. It would be nice to have the public folders in their own module.
4. Mark folders hidden in the mail module. We can remove folders from the Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Tasks, and Journal modules. Why can't we remove them from the Mail module?
5. Editable rules. Working in the Rules Wizard is slow. I want to export my rules to a file, edit the file in notepad and import. XML format would be icing on the cake.
6. Print rules. Why can't we print out our rules? Some people like to keep a written record of their settings; I want to be able to ask people for a copy of their rules when I'm troubleshooting problems.
7. Better printing all around. Outlook is lousy at printing the Calendar printing, but there is plenty of room for improvement in all areas. Printing a message that was sent to a large distribution list results in a page full of addresses and you can't print just page 1 or all but page 1 when you print a plain text email. (HTML uses IE's print dialog and is configurable.)
8. Per-contact email accounts. We need an option to be able to "always send to this contact with this account".
9. Attach notes to messages. We can flag messages and type any text in the flag type field but a 'sticky note' added to the message body or at the top of the message would be better. (Edit, Edit message is unacceptable because it changes the original message.) This feature request comes close to breaking my rule about not requesting features already supplied by third party developers -- OutNote is close to what I want, but it doesn't work the way I want my wish to work.
10. A better Resend. Forward adds the original header information, why can't resend do something similar and retain the original recipient's in the address fields? A flag or a text block that says 'this message was originally sent on [date] and [time] to [addresses]' is needed.
11. While we're talking about message headers, why can't we customize the address block used on replies and forwards?
12. VTODO support. iCalendar and vCard are Internet standards that allow calendar and contact interoperability among a variety of client and server applications. Outlook only partially supports iCalendar, and that support doesn't extend to VTODO or VJOURNAL. The ability to use ASP.NET or other web code to serve up tasks to the Outlook user with simple iCal/VTODO code would be a major enhancement for web developers and end users. Complete support for the iCal standards is a must.
13. Time zones. Give us the ability to set absolute times as well as relative times. I want some appointments at 10 AM local time, regardless of what time zone I'm in.

FROM THE MAILBAG: OUTLOOK 2000 WON'T CLOSE

A problem plaguing many readers the last couple of weeks involves Outlook 2000 not shutting down properly. In every instance, some computers on the network are running Outlook 2003 and the users are accessing the mailbox using both Outlook 2003 and 2000.

This is a known issue after Outlook 2000 is used to open your mailbox after accessing it using Outlook 2003 or if another user viewed your shared Calendar with Outlook 2003. You can try always opening Outlook 2000 using the /cleanfreebusy switch, but if that fails to correct the problem, you'll need to call Microsoft for the hotfix.

Outlook 2000 Post-Service Pack 3 Hotfix Package: January 13, 2004

If you have problems with any version of Outlook not closing, the cause is most likely an add-in that accesses the message store. When an add-in is still using the message store and you close Outlook, it remains running in Task manager until the other application exits. You'll need to identify the program that is using the message store and close it before closing Outlook. A list of applications known to cause problems is at http://www.slipstick.com/problems/close.htm.

FROM THE MAILBAG: MY CONTACTS ARE MISSING!

The past couple of weeks also brought a lot of mail from readers who "lost their Contacts." They can see them in the contacts folder but they are not in the address book. This happens most often when Outlook is upgraded or a new computer is configured using the old message store.

If you have Contacts in the Contacts folder but they are not accessible when you click on the To button, check these settings:

Step 1. Make sure the Contact folder is enabled as an email address book. Right click the Contacts folder, choose Properties then Outlook Address Book. Is the box to enable as email address book is checked? If not, add a checkbox and it should work as expected at this point.

Step 2. If the box is grayed out, you'll need to go to Tools | Email Accounts, choose View or change existing directories or address book. Is the Outlook Address Book present? If it isn't listed, add it and close and restart Outlook. If it is listed, then remove it and close then restart Outlook and repeat these steps to add it.

RATINGS RAFFLE

Slipstick.com's Ratings Raffle is winding down, if you haven't voted yet, do so now. Choose a category and vote for your favorite utilities in the category to be entered into the drawing to win a book. There will be five winners a week until the prize box is empty.

During the contest, you're limited to one entry person and can only vote in one utility category, but you can vote for as many of your favorite utilities in that category as you want. When the prizes are gone later this summer, you'll be able to come back and rate the utilities in the other categories.

Winners for weeks 11 and 12:

Mary Lou Gomez, Tx; Scot Wilcox, IA; Brian Williams, CA; Rick Levine, Redmond; Alexey A. Kuznetsov, USA; Amir; Ran Barton; Nasir Siddiqui, NV; Damian Soto, Switzerland; Peter Carøe, Denmark; Tom, Here; Kevin Young, Alberta, Canada; and Cathy Ciesielski, PA.

Congratulations Winners!

For a list of prizes, winners, and rules, see http://www.slipstick.com/books/contest.htm.

To vote for your favorite utilities, go to http://www.slipstick.com/contest/default.aspx.

New Utilities

DUPLICATE EMAIL DELETE FOR OUTLOOK
http://isaiahiro.hp.infoseek.co.jp/DuplicateEmailDelete.htm
Use Duplicate Email Delete to search for duplicated mail messages in Microsoft Outlook folders and delete them.

MAIL ARCHIVE PRO
http://www.mailarchive.biz/en/index.php
Mail Archive Pro is a complete email storage and search tool for Microsoft Outlook. MAP automatically creates an archive of your Outlook email, shrinking the size of your Outlook data files. MAP's archival process enables lightning fast full text search of tens of thousands of emails and attachments, allows virus scans of email and attachments inside the archive without the need for Exchange or Outlook plug-ins. Incremental backup of your email database enables operating system compression and encryption of email data, the emails themselves are compatible with Outlook because they are stored in Outlook message format. You can just double-click on an email to open it in Outlook.

PRINT TOOLS FOR OUTLOOK
http://www.mapilab.com/outlook/print_tools/
Print Tools for Outlook is a Microsoft Outlook add-in. It will help you automatically print incoming and outgoing messages with attachments (as well as messages and attachments separately). The plug-in automatically unpacks and prints packed .ZIP and .RAR attachments, and supports manual and automatic modes. Used with Microsoft Outlook rules, the Print Tools plug-in allows you to create a system that will automatically print messages and/or attached files. You can either specify (or forbid) which file types will be printed or print an attachment separately from its message.

REMINDERS IN ANNIVERSARY / BIRTHDAY
http://pwp.netcabo.pt/rsoutlook/US/index.htm
This is Microsoft Outlook COM Add-in allows you to add reminders to all anniversary's and birthday's in your calendar, using the same reminder time period for each anniversary or birthday. This Outlook add-in is easy to work with and has a simple user interface.

SONASAFE
http://www.sonasoft.com/
SonaSafe is a software application designed for disk-to-disk backup and recovery of Microsoft servers. SonaSafe runs on a dedicated server and can be quickly and easily deployed with little or no professional assistance. SonaSafe is designed to provide automated disk-to-disk backup and recovery via an easy-to-use point and click GUI. The administrator can manage multiple target databases through a single console and apply single-click recovery commands.

TEAMCONTACTS
http://www.teamcontacts.com/
TeamContacts is an easy to install Outlook add-on which uses an Access database to hold your contact information. Users can filter by categories to select a subset of their contacts to share. Changes in the Team folder are synced with the owners folder automatically, using a system tray synchronizer. No server software is required but it works great with Exchange server public Folders. For those user who need more than Contact sharing, TeamContacts is also available as part of OutlookInside

TWIDDLEBIT PLAN
http://www.twiddlebit.com/
Project planning software for Windows and Pocket PCs, supports exporting tasks to Outlook.

Updated Utilities

Other Resources

More Information

Updated Jun 08 2011

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